


Take To The Skies

by GrimFadango



Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Cid is the only sane one, Expect swearing. Duh, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:53:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24925708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrimFadango/pseuds/GrimFadango
Summary: Cid has had a pretty shit day. Just who are these fools that hitched a ride on his ruined plane anyway? And more importantly, where the hell are his cigarettes?Or. Cid and Aerith have a chat while Cloud glowers in the background like the overprotective lunk that he is.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough & Cid Highwind, Aerith Gainsborough & Cloud Strife
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	Take To The Skies

“Shitpissfuck!” Cid swore eloquently as he strode towards the campfire. 

It had been a harrowing day for one Cid Highwind. His hopes of ever making it into space had been freshly dashed, he had been shot at, practically kidnapped by a bunch of harebrained fools, and worse of all... his beloved Tiny Bronco was now essentially a bullet-ridden dingy (the indignity of all!). He shuddered. Between the bullets, the fire and the sea water, his poor baby would likely never fly again. 

The universe, however, apparently wasn’t done flinging shit in his face. He had searched his pockets, his packs and the holding compartments of his plane and had come up with nothing but empty air. The final cherry on top of his massive shit pie? His pack of cigarettes were nowhere to be found. 

“Fucking-fuck-ona-fucking-stick.” He muttered with feeling. He whipped his head back towards the direction of the hastily erected tents and glared balefully at them. 

_Numbskulls._

He supposed he should have given the group a more flattering name. After all, he had (somewhat reluctantly) agreed to join the party in their madcap quest of “SAVING THE WORLD” and more importantly, giving the big ole’ finger to his old employers. Really, now that Cid thought about it, he had probably been riding the adrenaline high of his most recent near death experience.

There was a quiet laugh from the direction of the bonfire. Cid scowled, he couldn’t even wallow properly without someone having shits and giggles at his expense.

Oh. It was her. The mythical florist, the floral mage, _Aerwhasherface._ She was seated facing the fire, eyes closed and both hands clasped to her chest. _Oh Gawd, was she actually praying?_

Her eyes popped open. “I’m sorry about your plane.” She said, without looking at him directly. “She was a real beauty.” 

He agreed with her assessment on both counts; the Tiny Bronco **was** a beauty, emphasis on the past-tense. He stalked moodily to the far end of their campsite.

“Aerith?”

Great. Just great. The more the merrier. All he needed was that damn mouthy ninja girl to pop up and join their party. A man couldn’t even mope in peace. He half-turned to glare at the speaker. 

Cloud Strife – former SOLDIER and the current de facto leader of the bunch of weirdos that had traipsed into his life and then trampled it to hell – had materialized out of the shadows. He was also glowering at Cid in, what presumably, was meant to be a vaguely threatening manner.

“Why are you still up?”

“Too warm in the tent. Couldn’t sleep. Didn’t want to disturb Tifa and Yuffie. Wanted some fresh air.” She ticked the reasons off with her fingers.

“You shouldn’t be out here alone.” 

“I’ll be fine, Cloud. I can fight too, you know.” She flashed a quick smile at him; Cid had the distinct impression that this was a conversation that had played out before, ad nauseaum. “And, besides, Mr Highwind is here too.” 

Cid snorted loudly. _Mr Highwind, bloody hell._

The blonde numbnut - _sorry, Cloud_ – was frowning again. He obviously didn’t fully trust his fellow ex-Shinra employee, despite all the heroics he had employed in ditching a crippled plane with everyone miraculously in one piece. Cid didn’t hold it against him personally; in truth, all the above-mentioned heroics were merely hard-earned skills he had used in trying to save his own skin. Everyone else’s skin was merely an added bonus.

__

__

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry. You look tired, Cloud. Please don’t stay up on my account.”

Another pretty smile and blondie boy is clearly wavering. “But…” He trailed off before sighing. _Boy, you are so whipped._

“Please, Cloud. I know you’ve been keeping watch the last few nights.”

There was a long silence and then Cloud was levelling yet another impressive frown at Cid. “You’ll stay with Aerith.” It was a command, not a question. 

Cid took a deep breath, the better to fucking shout at the twerp. _Who the hell did he think he was -_

“Ahem. Please, Mr Highwind?” Aerith had a voice that was all sunshine, roses and whatever the hell flew out of baby’s asses - _rainbows, probably_ \- but there was no mistaking the steel underlying the request. 

Cid was the first to admit that he was a crusty, curmudgeonly soul who usually gave no fucks about what people thought about him. He did, however, have an excellent sense of self-preservation; he had seen the mythical florist in action today as they were making their escape from those damn Shinra fools. She wasn’t lying when she had told blondie boy that she could protect herself. Hell, she could probably fry his balls off with her magic if he pissed her off. Besides, SOLDIER-boy was also eyeing him with an intensity that promised that the next time he hit him with something, it would be the pointy end of his sword. 

“Yeah, yeah.” he said sourly, folding his hands. 

“Thank you!” Flower girl chirped and made honest-to-God, actual shooing motions towards the tent. “See Cloud? Nothing to worry about.”

Blondie threw one last impressive glower in Cid’s direction. Cid fought the urge to roll his eyes. Mako-enhanced eyes or not, his slight frame and baby face didn’t quite sell the tough guy look that he was clearly gunning for. He did, however, grudgingly admit that the huge-ass sword definitely scored him some intimidation points. 

“Don’t stay up too late.” This was softer, and most definitely not pitched at him. 

Cid batted a pesky fly away and snuck in a glance at SOLDIER boy. Blondie was staring wordlessly at his boots, the sand, the fire; everything save the girl he was actually speaking to. He smirked. _What, no nighty night for the kickass pilot that saved your ass?_

“I will.” There was a pause. “I’m not going anywhere, I promise.” 

Cid snorted softly. Team Numbskulls were currently camping on a god-forsaken beach just north of nowhere and just east of oblivion. Tiny Bronco was dead as a bird in the water; there wasn’t anywhere to _go_ , unless the girl could suddenly sprout wings or gills. 

__

__

Blondie cleared his throat. “Try to get some rest.” He said brusquely, before turning and walking back towards the tent. He made a show of removing his gauntlet, his sword and his boots before entering the tent. Cid outright rolled his eyes at the production; he was willing to bet every last gil that SOLDIER-boy would continue to keep watch over their nocturnal tea party of two. 

And fuck, now he really wanted a cup of tea. A goddamned cup of tea, a fag and his beautiful Bronco back in flying shape. 

_Fuck you universe, was that too much to ask for?_

He rubbed his face wearily and gracelessly dropped to the ground. It had been a long, long day and tomorrow did not look like it was shaping up to be any better. 

__

__

“I’m sorry, Mr Highwind. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.” 

He glared at her from across the fire. “Call me Mr Highwind again, and I’m dumping your asses out of my plane.”

“Yes, sir, um...Cid!”

In the silence that followed, Cid began running a mental inventory of what he needed to keep his poor baby alive until they actually reached civilization. His temples began to throb as thoughts like “Where the fuck are we?” and “How the hell do I pull a new compressor from outta my ass?” competed for attention in his mind. 

“Um, Cid, could I ask you a question?" 

Cid groaned inwardly. _No_. 

She charged ahead despite his stony silence. “This is going to sound a bit strange, but um…was there a lady who worked with you on the rocket launch?”

“What?”

“A fellow scientist? With…um…spectacles and uh, brown hair?”

He gave her a sceptical look. “Gotta say, this is a piss-poor attempt at cold reading.”

She laughed in spite of herself. “No, it’s just….someone I thought of. I thought she might have worked with you.”

“Huh.” Cid eased into a more comfortable sprawl onto the ground. Might as well get comfy if he was gonna spend the rest of the night in a fog of nicotine-withdrawal. “Well, there weren’t that many women who worked in the Space Exploration Department.”

“I think her name was Shera?" 

Cid grunted in surprise, then tried to cover it up with a cough.

“Does she um, still live in Rocket town?”

“She left.” Cid said shortly, hoping fervently that she would take the hint.

“Oh.”

It took several more furtive glances in his direction before he was hit with a growing sense of dread.

_Shit._

Flower girl clearly wanted to make small talk. If he made her cry with his usual sandpaper abrasiveness, he was damn sure he was going to get a furious ex-SOLDIER all up his ass. This was clearly developing into a situation that called for one of em’ “interpersonal skills”. 

Cid Highwind was a man of many talents: he was an accomplished aeronautical engineer, a damn fine pilot and hell, he was pretty competent with a spear. He was not, however, particularly gifted in “interpersonal skills”. Countless performance evaluations had called for Shinra employee 70004273, HIGHWIND, CID to improve on skills such as “active listening” and “empathetic communication”. He had taken those meticulously worded forms and had told his supervisors to shove them up –

“-fly an airship?”

His train of thought ground to a screeching halt. “What?”

“Could you teach me how to fly an airship?” 

“Uh…” He scratched the back of his head.

“I know…I never really went to a proper school.” She corrected herself. “Beyond the basics I mean.” She drew a deep, steadying breath and the rest of her words came tumbling out in a rush. “There’s just so much in the world I want to see and then we met you and – “ 

“Whoa, whoa! Stop.” Cid held up his hand before throwing her an appraising look. “What did you say you worked as again?”

“Local florist.” she quipped.

“Fuck. Are you considering a career switch? Now? While ya on the lam?!” Cid spluttered incredulously.

“No…no…nothing like that. Although maybe…” She shook her head ruefully then appeared to reconsider. “Well, who knows right? Think I’ve got what it takes?”

Cid stared at her like she had grown another head. “Uh…” 

She had the audacity to laugh at his befuddlement. “Don’t worry. I’m not running away to join Shinra, no matter how beautiful their airships are.”

_A whole bunch of ‘em aren’t even theirs._ He thought bitterly. 

Aerith, although gifted in magic, was thankfully unable to read minds. She continued rambling on, in an almost dreamy tone. “We saw one of Shinra’s airships at Junon a few weeks ago. Cloud promised me that he would take me to ride it one day.” She quirked an impish grin. “I told him I would rather fly him on my own airship, thank you very much.” 

Cid remembered the distinctly queasy look that Cloud had tried so valiantly to hide behind a veneer of coolness and general badassery. “Better pack some extra remedies.”

Aerith laughed before becoming serious once more. “I used to hate the open sky….back when I lived in Midgar.”

“Ain’t nothing pretty about the sky over Midgar.”

“I mean….I still find it overwhelming. All that space, all that freedom….it just makes you feel so small.” She looked up at the night sky and contemplated the starry expense above their heads. “But sometimes, it’s so beautiful that I almost can’t bear it.”

Cid followed the direction of her gaze heavenwards; it had been some time since he had truly _looked_ at the stars, viewing them without the clinical detachment of a rookie aviator trying to learn all those damn celestial positions. He reached for a tuft of sandgrass and began to worry the stem with his fingers, wishing for the nth time that he had a cigarette to spare.

He heard her exhale softly. “All those stars….what do you think is out there?”

It was a question that had fuelled his dreams and compelled a dumb kid from a backwater town to slowly and painfully work his way up the ranks of Shinra. Just when he had finally been so close to becoming the Planet’s first man in space, his dumb-ass conscience had gotten in the way, permanently aborting his dreams of ever making it into space. Cid sighed. “I was supposed to be the first fucking person to find out.”

“You will. I know it.” There was something so earnest about the way she had said it, almost as if she had truly meant it, rather than the endless sentimental platitudes he had been subjected to over the years.

He snorted. “If you find me the money, the parts, the crew, and basically everything else.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Only if you promise to teach me how to fly.”

Funny. Cid mused to himself. He was usually so bitter when he spoke about his failed dreams. “I don’t know kid. The best flight schools are affiliated with Shinra, which uh, kinda complicates things…considering Shinra’s busting yo asses.” 

“Just kidding.” Her wistful smile never quite reached her eyes. “In another life, right? Captain Gainsborough at your service.”

He didn’t quite know what to say to that. “Uh…”

Aerith stood up gracefully and dusted the sand off her skirt. She slanted a sly gaze back towards the main tent. “I’m going to bed now, Cloud.”

There was no response but Cid could have sworn he saw the entrance flap of the tent twitch in guilty acknowledgement. Aerith shook her head in quiet amusement and began to make her way towards the tents. She paused mid-stride before turning to face him with a smile on her face. “Thank you Cid. Truly. I lived in Midgar my whole life and never got to see the sky, much less fly in it.”

Cid looked away and scuffed his feet in awkward embarrassment. “Yeah, yeah. I was just tryin’ to save my own arse.”

Her smile widened in amusement as she considered her next words carefully. “And when Shera comes back…remember, don’t be such an asshole.” 

Cid stared at her. “What the fuck did you say?”

She airily waved her hand and made her way back to the tent. “You heard what Cloud said. Get some rest, we have a long day tomorrow!”

Cid shook his head in exasperation. She had said it with the firm conviction that he was already fully committed to their cause. 

“Ah, fuck it.” He muttered under his breath. What he had told the foolhardy bunch of adventurers had been true. He was done with Shinra. And Rocket town?

He worked his fingers into his pocket and dug out his PHS. Shera’s last message flashed briefly across the screen; no one else had texted him in weeks.

- _I’m sorry, Captain._ -

His thumb briefly hovered over the delete button before he snapped his PHS shut. 

_Yeah, Rocket town was a lost cause anyway._

**Author's Note:**

> Dipping my toes into the FFVII fandom again...has it really been 23 years? 
> 
> I’ve always loved the OG character art of Aerith looking up at the Highwind. As sheltered as she was, she always struck me as someone who would have loved to travel, and to have seen more of the world. Hopefully, FF7R will finally give her the chance to ride (hell, or fly!) the Highwind.
> 
> Also, Cid is love and I’m thoroughly looking forward to meeting him again in all his cranky foul-mouthed glory.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
